IMA Brisbane

The brief was to expand the gallery space of the Judith Wright Centre for contemporary Art in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. The proposition centres around an art gallery that wears a skin of art. An accessible, modular timber screen covers the gallery and exhibiting artists are encouraged to make a contribution. In this way the facade evolves, changes, decomposes and re-configures such that it is always intriguing. From the street the gallery is accessed by moving under the skin to a void, where an escalator carries you up into the centre of the building.

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[one_half_last] Programatically the scheme adds a lecture theatre, 1000m2 of gallery space, a cafe, bar and a commercial gallery with associated servicing to the existing building. The design was required also to lower the net energy use of the centre, and passive ventilation and lighting systems were designed to achieve a reduced net air-conditioned volume and increased daylighting.